Legacy 1x04: What Dreams May Come
by Lady Dawson
Summary: Complete. While Brooke and Wyatt are in L.A., Susan and Chris track down a demon killing witches by imprisoning them in their dreams with his cousin Parker. Unfortunately, the only known vanquishing spell can only be cast in the dream world.
1. The Slumber Demon

**Legacy: What Dreams May Come**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter One: The Slumber Demon

"Now, are you absolutely sure that you are going to be able to handle everything this weekend?" Brooke Murphy asked her best friend Susan Dawson as they headed down the stairs. "Because, you know, we don't have to go. I mean, we can really just have just a good a time as any right here. There's plenty of stuff that we can do here."

"Brooke, you have been worried about this trip ever since you and Wyatt asked me and Chris if it was okay that you were going," Susan said, exasperated. "You're going. It's just three days in L. A., what's the worst that could happen?"

"It's not me that I'm worried about, Susan, it's you guys. With this demonic uprising thing, I feel like we shouldn't stray too far apart."

Susan sighed, torn between exasperation and amusement. "Brooke, I have been fighting demons since I was thirteen. Chris has been fighting demons practically since he was born. We are both grown adults and can take care of ourselves. If anything happens, then Wyatt's just an orb away and we will call him if we need you." She shook her head. "You were so excited about this trip when you asked, Brooke, what happened?"

Brooke groaned. "I don't know . . . it's just spending alone time in another city with an incredible hot and irresistible guy . . . I guess I'm freaking out a little."

"Gee, you think?" Susan wondered out loud as they made the last descend on the stairs. Chris Halliwell looked around at them as he was packing up the bags. His brother Wyatt was working on the engine. "We just about finished, fellas?" she asked.

"Just about," Wyatt answered as he gave a grunt. "Okay, that fixed it. Yeah, we're good to go."

"Great, because I can't wait to get rid of this girl for a couple of days," Susan said, pushing Brooke towards Wyatt. "Please, take her off my hands, good sir, I am begging you." She clasped her hands in front of her dramatically. Even Brooke laughed at this.

"Okay, you guys are sure that you'll be able to handle everything?" Brooke said once they stopped laughing. "I mean, this demon stuff and everything else . . . you're sure?"

"Brooke Kathryn Murphy!" Susan exclaimed, placing her hands on her hips. "If you do not get into that car this instant, young lady, I am going to throw you in there personally!"

Giving a squeak of alarm, Brooke practically dove into the car, shutting the door behind her. Susan let out a breath of relief and went to go put Brooke's suitcase into the back. Wyatt stared at her, then at Chris carefully.

"You're sure that you're safe alone with her?" he wanted to know. Chris laughed. "'Cause she's scary, Chris. Seriously, very scary when you get on the wrong side of her."

"Oh, I know, Wy," Chris said as Susan made a face at Wyatt. He did the mature thing and stuck his tongue at her. "But every time that I kiss her, I don't care." Susan shook her head as Wyatt conceded this point.

"Boys," she grumbled. Wyatt grinned at her as he gave his brother a hug before he turned to go to the driver's side of his fully restored 2008 Equinox. "Well, call us when you get there, okay? I would like to know that you both got there safely."

"Oh, Susan," Wyatt said, smiling at her. "I'm touched. You actually care about _both_ of our safety?"

Chris shook his head and Susan chuckled as she walked over to him, hugging Wyatt in a very sisterly way. "You guys have a good time, all right?" she asked. "We'll call you if we need anything."

"Yeah, yeah," Wyatt said, rolling his eyes. "But please don't need us, because I would like to have a demon-free weekend. We'll see how that works out, because I doubt L.A. has any less demonic activity than San Francisco. But you know, I can always hope, right?"

"Have fun!" Chris yelled after him as Wyatt slammed the door behind him. "Don't drink a whole lot!"

"And after you're done not drinking, make sure you drink plenty of water and lots of aspirin!" Susan added. Wyatt honked the horn in reply and they could see him laughing as they headed out of the parking lot and down the highway.

Susan chuckled as she looked up at Chris, who wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "So, what now?" she asked.

"We go enjoy ourselves for once," Chris responded with a grin. "Up for some ice cream?"

Just as Susan was about to open her mouth to reply, another voice cut her off. "I'm afraid there won't be any time for that."

Both witchlighters turned around to find Susan's Whitelighter Brandon James walking towards them. Susan let out an exasperated sigh as she glared at him. "I thought you were supposed to be getting some information on my demonic stepmother?"

"Who says that I'm not? Besides, she's not a demon. Not exactly," he added dryly. "Anyway, we've got demonic trouble. And it's enough for Them to be worried about it." He glanced upwards.

Susan looked towards the heavens, scowling at the thought of the Elders before returning her gaze towards Brandon. "So?" she said when he didn't say anything else. "What demon?"

"That's what we need to find out," Brandon replied. "But what we do know is that he's been imprisoning witches in their dreams . . . before their dreams slowly consume them."

Susan stared at Brandon before looking towards Chris, who wore an equally worried look on his face.

--

"You're certain that this plan is going to work?" Peter Connelly asked the demon as she stood in front of the desk. "I've had too many demons fail me in the past and I am getting sick and tired of this girl ruining my plans. You are certain that you can strike her with the spell?"

"Her Whitelighter has been informed of the witches' deaths, my lord," the demon he'd hired to get rid of the Dawson girl said. Her name was Aisling and she dealt specially with dreams and visions. It was her specialty. "It will not be long before she investigates the witches I've already taken care of with the young Halliwell witch."

"Christopher Halliwell is not apart of this plan," Peter snapped, annoyed. "Two together makes them stronger than one alone. If they get all four together, then it is almost impossible to stop them. In fact, it's usually a better idea to retreat before they stop us."

"There is no need to worry, my lord," Aisling told him. "The twice-blessed and the nymph-girl have left town. By the time that they get back, both Susan Dawson and Christopher Halliwell will be dead. I would rather get rid of two of them, because few can claim that they've managed to exterminate a Halliwell witch. It looks good on my résumé, you see."

"Hmm." Peter stared at her for a moment. "Very well. Continue with your plan. You've gotten this far, Aisling. But few have gotten farther than this when they've worked for me. See that you don't follow that ugly tradition. I'm getting sick of failure."

"If you don't mind my saying, sir," Aisling said quietly. "It seems to me that you may have a traitor in your midst. I would keep an eye out on those who you keep near you. Once bought, a traitor is hard to return to our side."

"Do not advise me, Aisling," Peter warned her. "More powerful demons than you have learned from that mistake the hard way. The only reason why you're not dead now is because you've proved valuable to me. For the time being," he added menacingly.

Aisling bowed without another word. "As you wish," she said as she shimmered away.

Peter shook his head, walking out of the office and slamming the door behind him. Had he thought to come back a few seconds later, he would have seen a teenage boy reappear from the shadows.

Bobby Connelly stared where his father had left in shock before picking up the files on his desk, staring at the pictures of his half-sister. "He's really trying to do it," he whispered, returning them to where they were as he sat down in shock. "He's really trying to kill Susan."

There was no time to waste. If his father had his way, then Susan would be dead. And this demon, Aisling, was closer than any demon he'd sent before, which meant that she was pretty close. He had to go and help her, stop Aisling before she hurt Susan—or killed her.

Not thinking twice, Bobby hurtled from the office, running down the steps and seizing his jacket off of the coat rack, ignoring his father's call as he raced outside. For some unknown reason, his father had temporarily bound his materialising power, so he had to get there on foot.

When he was a block away from his house, he heard a car honk and whirled around, ready to defend himself, when he recognised the driver.

"Parker," he said, lowering his hands. The son of Paige Matthews-Mitchell stared at him, eyebrows raised. "Uh . . . what are you doing here?"

"Just taking a drive," Parker replied with a grin. They went to the same school and Parker was in some of his classes. He was one of the last people that his father wanted him to hang out with, but admitted that it might do some good to be able to assimilate into the Halliwells' lives without suspicion. "You need a ride somewhere?"

Bobby didn't hesitate. "San Francisco Memorial," he told him, relieved to have a way to get there.

Parker shrugged, opening the passenger door and Bobby dived in as Parker shifted into drive and started moving towards the hospital where Bobby knew that the witches Aisling attacked were. Doubtlessly, Susan was already on her way there, with Parker's cousin Chris. If they found out everything, then he was going to have some explaining to do. But still, that was a whole lot better than the alternative.

He'd already lost his older brother; he wasn't planning on losing his sister, too, anytime soon. Even if he had to love her from a distance, then that was better than nothing.

At least . . . for now.

**--Opening Credits--**

Title Song: "Chariot" by Gavin Degraw

Drew Fuller as Chris Halliwell

Wes Ramsey as Wyatt Halliwell

Michelle Trachtenberg as Susan Dawson

Anne Hathaway as Brooke Murphy

Hayden Christensen as Brandon James

and Shawn Ashmore as Bobby Connelly


	2. Forced into Dream World

**Legacy: What Dreams May Come**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Two: Forced into Dream World

"Okay, so explain to me what it is that we're doing here?" Chris asked Brandon as they walked through the doors of San Francisco Memorial. "And what's the deal with this demon? What's he after?"

"Don't know," Brandon said as he walked through the doors of one of the hospital rooms without knocking. Susan sighed as she followed him; nobody was in there except for the patient, who was asleep on the bed. Her eyelids shifted slightly, but otherwise made no movement.

"Who's this?"

"Her name Riley Williams, a local witch," Brandon answered as he looked down at her. "She goes to college here and her roommate called two days ago, telling the operator that Riley was asleep and she couldn't wake her up. There have been twelve other similar cases, just like this, and most of them the victims have been killed."

"Killed?" Chris echoed, his eyes narrowed. "How did this demon kill them while they were fast asleep?"

"What I think it is, is that the demon slowly drains away the brain activity," Brandon answered, frowning. "But I'm not completely sure on that. Not only that, but it's also draining away their powers. Every victim has been a witch. And very powerful witches, too. Riley was the descendent of a powerful line, almost as powerful as the Warren and Cromwell lines. And she's the very last of them," he added. "Once she's gone, then the line is extinguished unless she sires some children before that. And right now, that's looking pretty grim. Susan, I was kind of hoping that you might be able to get some hint as to what happened to her."

"I don't get premonitions or anything like that," Susan pointed out. "Just some psyche power."

Brandon nodded. "Except that she _does_ get premonitions," he explained. "And since you've got a psychic power, then I was thinking that maybe she'll be able to pass it along to you. Since it's a similar power, you know."

"That's not a bad idea," Chris observed, nudging Susan forward. "Go ahead, give it a try. The worst that can happen is that nothing happens and we've lost nothing."

Susan shook her head. "Seeing as how I'm outnumbered . . ." she said dryly, walking over to Riley and pressing her fingertips against the girl's temples. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes, trying to will a vision to come to her.

It took a minute, but it happened. In the flash of her mind, she saw Riley in a bedroom, picking up a book and then a demon appeared behind her. Whirling around, Riley was about to fight when the demon hurled a sparkling energy . . . thingy at her. Susan couldn't describe what it was, but whatever it was, it hit Riley and threw her backwards into a bed, where she fell into the state that she was in now.

Susan let out a soft gasp as she yanked her fingers away from Riley, her face white as she backed away. Chris seized her as she stumbled. "Are you okay?" he asked. "What happened?"

"What did you see?"

"A woman . . . or a demon," she whispered. "She threw something at Riley and . . . it made her like this." Susan shook her head, frustrated. "I don't know what it was, but it was like an energy ball. Just . . . different. It seemed to make her go into a trance, I guess."

Chris looked bewildered at her description, but shook his head. "Well, I guess we should go hit the Book. You got a good look at the demon, right?" She nodded as they began to leave the room. None of them noticed as Aisling shimmered in behind them, watching the trio carefully before shimmering out again. Soon. Her time would be within moments.

It wasn't until they were almost to the parking lot that Susan suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. "Wait," she said softly, her voice sharp. "Wait . . ." Her eyes were searching the area around them as she whirled around.

"Look out!" Brandon barked as he threw himself out of the way to avoid an energy ball. "Guess we found our demon," he remarked as the woman from Susan's vision appeared. "Anybody can come up with a spell, I'm all ears!"

"Since when do Whitelighters use spells?" Susan yelled at him. "Chris, duck!" She conjured a bolt of lightning, firing it at the demon. "You know, you really need to work on your aim, because it really sucks."

"This is only the beginning," the demon replied as the sound of screeching tires emerged and a car drove almost straight into the demon and would've hit her if she hadn't shimmered out.

"What the heck?" Susan asked, bewildered as a young man around eighteen years old appeared, slamming the door. To her surprise, the passenger turned out to be none other than Bobby, their friend in the Underworld who kept his true intentions a mystery. "What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"Parker!" Chris said, looking exasperated. "What are you doing? Didn't your mom ground you from demon hunting for a month because of your last adventure?" Susan glanced at him; wasn't Parker one of his cousins? He didn't look anything like either of the brothers, she noted as she surveyed Parker.

"Would you have preferred I let her turn you into witch goo?" Parker replied, glaring at his older cousin. "You guys were ten seconds away from getting creamed. And I kind of like having cousins. Where's Wyatt, anyway?"

"L.A.," Susan said dryly, looking around for the demon. "Where did she go, anyway?"

"What does it matter? She's gone now," Parker responded, looking at her for the first time. Instantly, his interest perked and he wandered over to her. "Hi, I'm Parker Matthews-Mitchell. Want to go to a movie sometime?"

Susan stared at him incredulously before looking over at Chris. "You're _related_ to him?" she wanted to know.

"On the days that I claim him," Chris responded. "Which today is kind of debatable. Parker, one, she is completely out of your league." His cousin rolled his eyes. "Two, you do not try and pick up your cousin's girlfriend. Three, demons don't just take off and never come back. They _always_ come back with a vengeance."

Parker stared at his cousin, slightly wounded. "I cannot believe you would say that she's out of my league," he complained. Chris let out an exclamation. "She's hot, Chris, what else is there?"

Bobby let out a groan. "Oh, I did _not_ need to hear that!" he mumbled. Susan snorted, looking at him. "Okay, um . . . if you could pretend that I'm just not here, then that would be great. What are the chances of that happening?"

"I'd say slim to none, what are you doing here?" Susan replied, placing her hands on her hips. "And to be perfectly honest, I'm getting a bit sick of the cryptic stuff. From both of you," she added, looking at Brandon. "Will somebody please tell me what is going on here?"

As Brandon looked down at the ground, Bobby's eyes contracted with something behind her. "Look out!" he yelled, shoving Susan out of the way. Before she could even recover, the same weird light ball thing came flying across the parking garage, hitting Bobby in the stomach.

"Bobby!" Susan exclaimed, scrambling to her feet. She whirled around to see the demon, scowling, but before she could vanquish her, the demon shimmered away.

"Oh, great," Chris muttered, looking exasperated as he lowered his hands from almost blasting the demon. "She got away."

Susan ignored this as she hurried down to the fallen Bobby, squatting down beside him. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked him, helping him up. Bobby was pale as he stared up at her, his eyes wide.

"No," he whispered. "I don't think I am." Before he could continue—or Susan could comment—his eyelids fluttered shut and he crumpled against her, unconscious before he hit the ground.

--

Chris let out a deep breath as he lowered the unconscious Bobby onto Susan's bed. She'd insisted that he'd be more comfortable there than on the couch. He moved away from the bed and Brandon took his place, squatting beside him and holding his hands over Bobby, the healing light forming from beneath them as he attempted to heal the kid.

Susan returned from the living room, carrying the Book of Shadows in her hands as she sat down, flipping through it. "What's taking so long?" she asked, glancing over at Brandon. Chris looked at the Whitelighter as he slowly lifted his hands away. "What's the problem?"

"I can't heal him," Brandon said, looking around at her. "It was the same thing with Riley; her Whitelighter couldn't heal her either. There's technically nothing wrong with him. He's really fine." Susan, Chris, and Parker all stared at him incredulously. He smiled weakly. "Okay, he's not completely fine, but there's nothing to heal. It's all in his head." He shook his head. "I can't explain it, but it's like he's—"

"Trapped inside of his mind, in the dream world," Susan finished up for him as she stopped flipping pages.

Brandon looked over at her. "Yeah, exactly," he answered, frowning at her. "How'd you know?"

"Her name's Aisling," Susan sighed. Chris walked over to her, peering at the page she was on. Sure enough, the demon on the page was the same one that they'd been attacked by. "She can put people into trances by sending them to dream world, where they fight her off for weeks on end. The loss of brain activity is just a backlash of being hurt in the dream world. When she manages to get their powers by killing them in the dream world, then they die in real life. Those balls of energy she hits them with? They're basically just energy balls, but a different kind. According to this, they only exist on the dream plane and being hit with one kind of forces you to go there. It's her way of forcing her victims onto her plane." She looked up at them. "And apparently, the only way that she can be vanquished is _in_ dream world."

Chris let out a deep breath. "Then that's what we're going to do," he replied. Susan stared at him. "We're going to go to dream world and vanquish her before she hurts anybody else. There's got to be a spell that'll take us there, isn't there?"

"Yeah, it's right here, but it's going to take us to the mind of her last victim," Susan told him. "Which in this case is Bobby. And there's no telling what's going to happen when we get there, Chris, I mean . . ." She sighed. "We'll be in _Bobby's _dream world, not ours. We could be trapped there for a long time if something bad happens."

"Something bad is already happening," Chris pointed out. He looked at Brandon and Parker. "All right, Parker, you go call your mom and tell her what's going on. I don't want her mad at me for dragging you into this." Parker rolled his eyes as he headed out to the kitchen. "Brandon, you watch over our bodies with my cousin and go to the Elders the _minute_ something goes wrong."

Susan sighed. "And Brooke was worried that something might happen this weekend," she remarked. "Boy, is she ever paranoid."

Brandon chuckled and Chris shook his head. "All right, let's the cast the spell," he said. Susan got to her feet, taking Chris's hand as they both looked at the spell written in the Book.

"_To the world of dreams, where visions come,_

_help to right what was done._

_To the victim of Aisling, take us to their dream._

_The world within, let us be." _

White, shimmering lights surrounded Chris and Susan and they vanished, surrounding Bobby with the light, before they vanished. Brandon let out a deep breath. "There is _no_ way this is going to end well," he said, shaking his head.


	3. Searching for Connelly Mansion

**Legacy: What Dreams May Come**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Three: Searching for Connelly Mansion

Chris slowly looked around at the scene that lay before them, an eerie feeling surging through him as Susan walked up next to him. He wrapped an arm around her as she stared at San Francisco. But it wasn't the one that either one of them had known, the one he'd grown up in. This one . . . was totally trashed.

Buildings lay half-destroyed around them; the streets were filled with garbage and debris and worst of all, bodies. Corpses lay everywhere, as though this were some sort of crypt where the bodies remained unburied. Susan's face was pale and her eyes were struggling not to look at them.

"So . . ." she said at long last, her voice shaking slightly, "I guess we're in Bobby's dream world now." She looked as though she were going to be sick and Chris didn't really blame her. This wasn't exactly a happy dream land that they were expecting.

"It's completely trashed," Chris whispered, staring around him. "Is this what his dream is, what he wants the city to be? Maybe he really is a demon." He wasn't sure he meant it as a joke or not.

"I don't think things here are always what they seem, Chris," Susan said. Her voice was steady now, though her face was still pale. "Dreams always represent something else, something that's not usually on the surface. You've got to look underneath in order to understand the true meaning."

Chris sighed, knowing she was right, but that didn't make the situation any easier. "All right, let's get out here and try and go find Bobby," he remarked. "And don't forget to watch out for the demon. She's bound to be around here somewhere."

"Right."

Both witchlighters stepped through the streets, keeping a careful look around them for both the one that they had come to rescue and the one who was hunting them.

Aisling shimmered into view behind them and grinned menacingly. "I couldn't have planned this better myself," she murmured. "So, young Master Connelly has decided to change sides, has he? His father isn't going to be too pleased about that." With a soft chuckle, she shimmered away, in search of her victim-to-be.

Susan sighed as they walked through the streets, none of which were more pleasing than the first one. "Okay, so where do you think he is?" she asked, looking towards Chris in exasperation. "If you're trapped in a dream, then you'd have to be trying to find a way out of it, wouldn't you? Shouldn't he be here someplace?"

"I don't know," Chris confessed, frowning slightly. "It would help a lot if we knew a whole lot more about him. If I were trapped in my dream, then I would go to someplace where I'm familiar at, to feel safe. And we don't even know the kid's last name."

"Connelly," Susan responded. Chris glanced sideways at her. "Your cousin told me earlier. Apparently, they go to the same school, but Parker didn't know that he was . . . whatever he is."

"Yeah, he's in league with demons, but doesn't want to be and we have never actually seen him use any powers to speak of," Chris observed. "So we don't know if he's a witch or something like that." He sighed, shaking his head. "So what do you _think _he is?"

"Witch," Susan answered almost immediately. "Half of him, at the very least, anyway. He may be part demon, I don't know, but there's a lot of him, a stronger part, that's good. I know it."

Chris wondered if he should be feeling jealous at her obvious trust in this kid, despite that he was in league with demons, but overlooked it. She may care about the kid, but she didn't like him in that way. And he obviously didn't like her in that way either, from his comment to Parker earlier.

"So, we have to look for the Connellys?" he asked, heading towards an abandoned gas station. "All right, then. Let's go find a phone book. There's got to be one around here somewhere."

Susan followed him into the gas station and shook her head at the mess that they found. It took awhile, but they finally managed to dig up a dirty, grimy old phone book. "Connelly, Connelly, Connelly," she muttered, flipping through the pages while Chris kept a look out. "All right, there's four in here. Margaret, Peter, Norbert, and Marcus. So which one are we going with?"

Chris looked over her shoulder, studying the addresses. "Well, demons usually try and get into big companies, to assimilate themselves in the human world. Which if the Connellys are associated with demons, they'll have a pretty fancy house. Peter Connelly lives on one of those rich folks streets. Should probably try there first. Write them all down in case I'm wrong, though."

"Sure, with what?"

She looked through her pockets, but she didn't have any pen on her, nor any piece of paper, and she looked at Chris, eyebrows raised. Chris sighed, hoping that this would work. Holding out his hand and concentrating on his telekinetic orbing, he said firmly, "Pen and paper."

To his immense relief, a pen and paper orbed into his hand. "Well, at least this means our powers still work here," he remarked as he handed them to Susan.

She smirked as she scribbled down the addresses. "What exactly was that power, anyway? It looked like orbing lights," she said.

"Yeah, it was. Sort of a telekinetic orbing, I can orb stuff from one place to another with my mind. Wyatt and Aunt Paige are better at it than I am, though," he added as an afterthought. "Regular telekinesis is my specialty. And blowing things up," he said with a grin.

Susan chuckled as she finished writing the addresses down. "Okay, let's go find this Peter Connelly's place," she remarked as they headed off towards the direction of the home of the fallen witch who'd been hunting them since Susan arrived in San Francisco.

--

Parker paced back and forth across the bedroom as Brandon flipped through the Book of Shadows, not sure exactly what he was looking for, but it was better than just sitting here waiting. "I don't get why we're just sitting here. There's got to be some reason why this demon tracked us there. It can't be just a coincidence. I think that she was waiting for us."

"So what if she was?" Brandon said airily. "Susan and Chris are going after her, all right? She can only be vanquished on the dream plane."

"Yeah, but do you really think that she is in this alone?" Parker retorted, orbing the Book over to him and flipping to the page on Aisling. "Look, read right there! She's a hired gun. Assassins don't just go around killing people because they want to; they do it to get paid for the demise of the target. Somebody had to have sent her."

Brandon stared at the page, realising that the witchlighter was right. And there was only one person he could think of that was after Susan at the moment. "Peter Connelly," he muttered softly.

"Huh?" Parker stared at him in complete confusion. "What's Bobby's dad got to do with this?"

"He's after Susan," Brandon replied, leaning back. "He's been trying to kill her ever since her family died. For some reason, he wants her dead," he said softly, glancing towards the sleeping Susan. "I don't know why, but that's partially why the Elders sent me down here. They, more than anybody else, know how dangerous he can be."

"What's he got against her?" Parker asked, leaning against the wall. "I mean, she couldn't have done anything _too_ bad to him."

Although Brandon didn't want to say it, the words came plunging out of his mouth before he could stop them. "It's not what she did. He's afraid of what she might _become_."

"And what is that?"

Brandon shook his head once, wondering why he was saying so much. "I don't know."

Parker made a face. "You know, that Truth Spell isn't worth anything if people don't know much."

Gaping at him, Brandon glared at him furiously. "You're more trouble than you're worth, you know that, _Henry_," he said, calling him by his first name instead of the middle name that he used, to distinguish him between him and his father.

"Don't," Parker said, annoyed. "Don't call me that. Listen, if we're gonna find out what he wants, then we're going to have to take a risk. So, we should head over to the Connellys and find out everything that Peter knows. He should talk if he's threatened."

"Except he'll probably be surrounded by some of his demons," Brandon replied. "I have no interest in getting killed trying to break into the Connelly place. Dying wasn't that great the first time," he added. "Besides, somebody has to stay and watch them." Parker opened his mouth. "No, you're not going anywhere."

"But think how happy she'll be once she's found out the exact reason that Bobby's dad's trying to kill her." Parker stared him down as Brandon shook his head. "One of us has to go, because if evil knows and we don't, then they've got an advantage."

Brandon sighed as he looked at Parker, wishing that the kid didn't sound so reasonable. He was right; they had to find some answers in order to survive. If they didn't . . . well, then, they'd die. "Fine, all right? Fine. You stay, I'll go. Your cousin would kill me if I let you go off to the Connelly place alone, knowing who he is."

Parker scowled. "I'm not a baby," he muttered angrily, but reluctantly submitted to staying behind as Brandon orbed away to the mansion. "And this really isn't fair!"

Materialising just outside of the office, Brandon peered inside to see if anybody was there before heading inside. The office was empty, to his immense relief, and he didn't sense anybody else in the house. Walking over to the desk, Brandon opened up the drawers, searching through the files, trying to find anything that was useful.

Unfortunately, the only files that he could find were useless, lawyer files. Well, that at least explained what he was doing in the human world to assimilate into their world. Even though he was a part of it, Brandon doubted that Peter liked to advertise that.

With a groan, he laid his head on the desk, wanting to pound it when he saw a key in a little box lying on the desk. Slowly, he picked it up, studying it carefully, and his eyes fell on the painting of Peter, Deidre, and Bobby that hung on the wall.

Slowly, he stood up and walked over, gripping the frame and pulling it away from the wall, like a door. Sure enough, there was a safe behind the painting, and the key fit into the lock.

Turning it quickly, Brandon opened the safe and pulled out a file and a journal. Looking around once, he waved his hands, his eyebrows narrowed in concentration, and another file and journal appeared, completely identical to the original in appearance and content.

"It's a good thing I didn't lose my witch powers when I died," Brandon murmured as he placed the fakes in the safe and closed it quickly. Putting everything back to the way it was, he heard a noise just outside the door and his eyes widened.

Orbing the file and journal to Susan's apartment, inside of her dresser, he closed his eyes as a sinister voice said, "Well, well, what have we here?"

Peter Connelly had found him.


	4. Dreams of the Past

**Legacy: What Dreams May Come**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Four: Dreams of the Past

"This really is a bizarre dream, you know," Chris remarked as they walked through the streets filled with corpses. Susan nodded wearily as she stared up at the half-demolished houses that lay around them. "A really grim future, if you ask me."

"This isn't the future, though," Susan pointed out. "We don't know where or _when_ we are. Chris, this is just Bobby's version of things, how he may see the world or how he sees himself, you know? This isn't set in stone."

"Right," Chris agreed, his eyes focusing on something ahead of them. "All right, well, I think we found the right place."

"Hmm?" Susan turned around and saw the building that they were headed towards. The magnificent building, unlike its neighbours, was completely unmarked, standing tall and proud on its property. "Huh . . . um, Chris, is that—"

"Peter Connelly's place," Chris replied as Susan folded up the piece of paper with the addresses up and slipping into her pocket. "Now, I'm pretty sure that it wouldn't be the only place that was still standing if Bobby wasn't in there. Right?" he added, looking at her.

"Here's hoping," Susan said softly as she reached for the gate, her hands wrapping around the handle. "Ouch!" She jumped back, grabbing her wrist. "It just shocked me."

Chris was about to reach for it when the gate swung open, admitting the two witchlighters. They glanced at each other as Chris took Susan's hand and they walked together through the gates, which closed behind them. "Okay, this is starting to feel like a trap."

"We can't just leave him here!" Susan exclaimed, horrified at the very thought. She couldn't explain it, but she felt some sort of unspoken connection to the kid. It wasn't like her connection to Chris; it was different. The closest she could relate to it was her connection to Ryan. It was similar to the relationship she had with her twin.

"Did I say that?" Chris asked lightly as he walked boldly up to the door, plunging a well-aimed kick towards the door and knocking it down before she could stop him.

The door slammed against the side wall and echoed throughout the house. Susan winced. "Well, that threw out any surprise attack," she replied. Chris chuckled. "Bobby! If you can hear me, answer me! Bobby!"

No answer came and Susan looked towards Chris as she tentatively stepped further into the house. The moment that they were through, the door closed behind them. Susan whirled around, startled, but there was no one there. Chris gave her a worried look as they slowly turned around, carefully watching their surroundings and listening carefully.

"I think we should try upstairs," Susan said after a long moment. Chris nodded in agreement and followed her as they climbed the great oak steps, keeping a careful look around them as they climbed.

"If this place is anything like the real world, then I'd say that Peter Connelly is one powerful man," Chris remarked.

"Yeah, the bigger the house, the more influential they are," Susan said lightly as she opened a door. No Bobby was found inside there, however, and she closed it again, trying the next door. It wasn't until the fourth try that she actually found something.

There was Bobby, sitting in the corner, so close in that she could barely see him, his eyes darting quickly around the room. Opening the door further, Susan slowly stepped inside, Chris right behind her as Bobby gave a small squeak, pushing himself further into the corner.

"Bobby?" she asked gently. He only looked more alarmed as she said his name. "Bobby, it's Susan. It's okay; we're here to rescue you."

"Don't," Bobby said, his voice taking on a slightly aggressive tone. "Don't call me that. Nobody's supposed to call me that. I don't know either of you! Get out of here!"

"Oh, give me a break," Chris exclaimed, looking incredulous. "Come on, kid, it's us." But Susan was frowning slightly at Bobby, a slightly impossible thought crossing her mind.

"I don't know you!" Bobby shouted. Chris, about to take a step forward, was held back by Susan, who shook her head. "Stay away from me, both of you! Get away!"

"Why is he acting like this?" Chris asked, frustrated. Susan glanced at Bobby, then at Chris, and she slowly understood.

"It's just a theory," she said quietly, "but I think . . ." She sighed, running a hand through her brown hair. "Look, Chris, this is Bobby's dream, so maybe it's a possibility that Brooke and I haven't come to San Francisco and met you guys yet and met Bobby. I don't think that he knows us."

Understanding filled through Chris's face as he took in the situation. "So this dream is taking place in the past, before you guys came here," he mused before looking towards the confused Bobby. "Oh, boy. Suddenly, this just got a whole lot more complicated."

"Whatever," Bobby snapped. One instant he was across the room and the next, Susan heard the sound of materialising and she whirled around to see him running around the corner.

"Bobby!" Susan yelled, an almost maternal instinct coming over her as she raced down the hall after him. Chris was at her heels as they hurried down the steps after him. "You get back here, young man!" she yelled, using the same tone that her mother used whenever she yelled at Ryan.

"I hate to break this to you," Chris said lightly, "but that isn't going to get him back here. Even in our time, he's only seventeen. He's not going to listen to anybody." Susan scowled at him just as the demon who'd sent Bobby here appeared in front of the kid.

"Well, well, well," she said with a smirked, spotting Susan and Chris, "what have we here?" She laughed. Bobby stared wildly at her, then took off, leaving Susan and Chris to deal with the demon. "I really don't think that his father's going to be pleased when he finds out that his son and heir has betrayed him to witches."

Susan's blue eyes narrowed and she took two steps forward before Chris grabbed her and pulled her away by her shoulders. "Listen to me," he whispered to her, "I'll take care of her and you go find Bobby. Make him listen to you."

"But—"

"The only way that we're going to be able to stop her from hurting him and any future innocents is by vanquishing her. And I think in order to do that, we're going to have to earn Bobby's trust in here." Chris's green eyes bore into her blue ones. "Go and find him. I'll stall her."

Biting her lip, Susan looked at Chris quickly. "Be careful," she whispered, giving him a quick kiss before taking off, hearing Aisling's laughter erupt from behind her as she ran.

"You think you can escape me, little Dawson?" Aisling yelled. "There will be no escape for you. This is the dream world. I will always find you in here."

--

Brandon groaned as he hung limply from the chains that held him captive. He couldn't orb out of them; he'd already tried. They'd been prepared for someone breaking in, it seemed. Peter barely even glanced at him as he opened up the safe and searched through the contents. A satisfied and relieved look crossed his face when he saw the two items that Brandon had switched.

Without even picking them up, Peter closed the safe again and looked towards Brandon carefully. "So, what do you think you were doing here, Whitelighter?" he asked. Brandon said nothing, only glared defiantly at Peter. "Not in the mood to talk, hmm? Well, we'll see how you feel after some time in the interrogation room." With a nod towards the demons standing there, Peter said quietly, "Take him."

"Yes, my lord," the demon said, hauling Brandon away. Just as they were about to leave the room, Peter held up his hand.

"Just one moment, now," he remarked, walking over to Brandon. "Who exactly are you, anyway?"

"His name's Brandon James, my lord," the demon said when Brandon said nothing. Brandon scowled at the demon. "He's the Dawson girl's Whitelighter." Peter raised an eyebrow as he stepped even closer to Brandon, studying him carefully.

"Is that right?" he asked with a sickening smile. Brandon gulped. "Then perhaps he might prove useful to me. Take him down there. You interrogate him, torture him, I do not care. But make sure that he remains _alive_." The order was non-negotiable.

"Of course." The demon shoved Brandon ahead of him, still handcuffed, as he was marched through the corridors of the Connelly home until they reached the first floor.

Punching a wall, the demon smirked at Brandon as the door slid open, revealing a hidden chamber beyond the wall. "In you go, Whitelighter," he snarled. Brandon gritted his teeth as he was chained to a chair, struggling to free himself.

"This is _not_ good," he muttered to himself as the demon closed the hidden door behind him.

"You've got that right, Whitelighter," the demon said with a laugh. "Do you know that there are ways to make a Whitelighter feel more pain than death itself? Something that they can't even self-heal from?" Brandon felt a chill rise through him. "Lord Peter was the one who created it. And believe me when I say that we're the only ones with the cure. Other than the very slim chance that a Whitelighter can come and heal you."

"I hate to break this to you," Brandon told him, "but there is someone who knows that I'm here and my purpose _for_ being here. He'll tell the others and then you'll have four very powerful witches coming here and I don't think that'll sit too well with your master, now would it?" The demon smirked, but said nothing. "So, what exactly is Peter Connelly in the whole Underworld ranking thing? I'm guessing the Source."

"Hardly," the demon scoffed. "He is the chosen ruler of us. A long time ago, someone organised the Underworld, putting us into clans before he left to do damage in other parts of the universe. He appointed the original Source as our ruler. Then, twenty years ago, he returned and was furious at how low we sank. So, he led a witch of good astray and appointed him the ruler of the Underworld."

Brandon raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really," he said, though this information made his blood go cold. "And what is this . . . person that came and organised it? What's his name?"

A sour look crossed the demon's face. "We do not know his name, but we are indebted to him. He showed us how to unify ourselves. And he is neither human or demon or witch. He is something else entirely." He smirked at Brandon's dismay. "And now," he added, "you're wasting my time. You are the one who should be talking, not me."

Brandon slammed his eyes shut as something was jammed into his arm and he clenched it tightly. Excruciating pain surged through him and he tried to will himself to keep quiet. But the pain was too much and he wanted nothing but for it to stop. He let out a scream that echoed throughout the entire house.

In the office upstairs, Peter heard the scream echo, but ignored it, merely pouring himself another cup of wine, shaking his head.


	5. Trust is a Precious Thing

**Legacy: What Dreams May Come**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Five: Trust is a Precious Thing

Susan hurried through the house, searching every room that she could, but it wasn't until she reached the third floor that she finally found Bobby. He was peering out of the window, staring down at the broken, gloomy streets below as she entered. He turned, his gaze wide and fearful as she approached, backing away from her.

"Bobby," she told him gently. "Don't be afraid of me, okay? I'm not here to hurt you. Will you just listen to me, please?"

"Why should I?" Bobby asked brokenly. His gaze was bleak as he gestured around them. "You're one of those demons who work for my dad. He destroyed what normal life I could've had and imprisoned my mom! Why can't you just leave us alone?" He was shouting by now and Susan took a deep breath, walking towards him.

_Step by step, daughter. Tell it slowly. He is only a child, trapped in his own perspective of reality. You must find the complex thread and unravel the tangle if you are to save the whole piece. _Susan froze as she heard her mother's voice in her mind.

"Mom?" she whispered. Bobby blinked, confused, and she shook her head, pulling her attention back to the subject. "No, you're wrong, Bobby. We're from the future and don't want anything to do with the Underworld."

"You're lying!"

"I'm not," Susan replied, gently. "We entered your dream to protect you, to save you from your dad and this place. Trust me," she added as she took a step closer to him. This time, he didn't back away, though he was still regarding her sceptically. "We're witches, protectors of the innocent. We are on your side, Bobby." His eyes met hers once. "We can defeat Aisling and help you to get out of this place, but in order to do that, you're going to have to trust us."

Bobby hesitated, a worried look in his eyes as he looked at her. "How do I know that you're telling the truth?" he asked after a long moment.

"You don't," Susan responded. "But do you really have much a choice? You've certainly got no future if you stay here, trapped in the past. And neither do the future innocents who need your protecting." She smiled as she walked over to his side, taking his hands into hers. "Trust me," she repeated.

The young witch's eyes were still scared, but he slowly gave a firm nod. "All right," he said quietly. "But you're going to have to save my mother, though." It wasn't an order, but a request.

Susan stood up, helping him to climb to his feet and began to lead him away from the room. "Where is she at?" she responded. Bobby blinked, surprised, then led her out of the room, leading her through the labyrinth of corridors mixed in the house, coming to a stop in front of a door.

"That's my dad's office," he said, standing about a foot away from it. "My mom's trapped with him inside. You can't get in, though," he added as Susan moved towards it. "It's got a barrier around it ever since that Aisling demon has been trying to capture me."

"So, then, how . . ." Susan stopped as everything slid into place. His mother was the only reason why Bobby still remained at his father's place. He had done something to his mother, imprisoned her so that she couldn't escape. So this dream was a complex thread of his life. His mother, trapped in the world of demons, and him unable to escape it because he wanted to help his mother. So he was forever running from demons, trying to free his mother and them say goodbye to that life.

"Okay, Bobby, listen to me," she told him. "We're going to rescue your mom, okay, but first we need to vanquish Aisling, all right? I promise you that we will free your mom. Okay?" she said as she held him gently. "I promise." She felt him nod once as she heard blasting emerge from downstairs.

Pulling away from Bobby, Susan looked back to where Chris was before hurrying back down the corridor, Bobby at her heels. "Duck!" she yelled at him as an energy ball came flying out of nowhere, seizing Bobby and pulling him down. He covered his head as debris fell, covering them both with dust.

Looking around, Susan hurried over to Chris, who was lying on the ground, clutching his side. "Are you all right?" she asked, panicked as she helped him up.

"I've been better," Chris said, his teeth clenched as his green eyes were focused on the demon. Susan turned around as Aisling smirked. "You know, you are really starting to annoy me."

"Well, that's just a bonus to the day," Aisling told him. "You know, I really can't think of what's better: doing the job that I was paid to do and get rid of your little girlfriend . . . or getting rid of the son of a Charmed One. Both are going to look good on my résumé." She laughed, but it died as Susan conjured up a bolt of lightning, firing it at her. "Well, that boss of mine certainly underestimated you, witch."

"I take great pride in being underestimated," Susan retorted as Aisling got to her feet before she glanced up at Bobby, who was staring at the battle that raged below him. He still didn't trust them, she realised. Because if he had, the lightning would've obliterated her completely.

Hope slowly shattered within her as she stared into the gleeful, satisfied one of the slumber demon. If she couldn't get Bobby to trust them in here, then what did that say about the real Bobby, the one who they knew and somewhat trusted?

Chris reached for her hand and squeezed it as they backed away from Aisling, with her eyes filled with pleasure. "Who knew that the daughter of a fallen witch could be so tied to good?" she whispered.

--

As Bobby watched the scene that played before him, he felt involuntary fear for the two witches that were now fighting Aisling. Susan had asked him to trust her, but he wasn't sure if he could do that. He'd spent so many years of being afraid to trust people, to let them in completely. His father simply thought he was an asset to him or otherwise not worth his time. His mother was barely even coherent most of the time. And he had no friends that he could talk to about everything that went on at home. It was hard for him to trust anyone because he had never been able to let anyone in. How could he let this girl in now? How could he trust her?

"Bobby!" Susan was looking up at him, her blue eyes imploring at him to listen to her. "You've got to trust us if you want to get out of here and save your mom, it's your only chance." He hesitated; did he dare risk it? Could he take the chance of someone hurting him?

"I can't," he whispered, his voice shaking and he sank down onto the steps, staring at the battle down below. He shook his head, wanting it to stop, but not being able to make it. Susan sent him a pleading look as she fired another lightning bolt at Aisling. Her friend, Chris, made a gesture with his hands, sending her flying, but neither of these things did any good.

Aisling suddenly shimmered out and Bobby was about to join them below, thinking that she'd retreated, when he felt a blade on the back of his neck. He froze and Susan made a movement towards him. "Ah, ah, ah, witch," Aisling warned her. "One wrong move and the boy dies."

Susan's face was filled with anger as she stopped, staring up at Aisling. "You even try and hurt him," she warned. "And I'll kill you."

"You don't have that power, do you?" Aisling taunted. "Otherwise, you would have done that hours ago. Oh, poor little witch, powerless to do anything as her little friend is killed in front of her. I hear the same thing happened when your dear brother died." Anger flashed in Susan's eyes. "I'm not hurting your feelings now, am I?" Aisling inquired.

Bobby let out a scream as Susan lunged forward, tackling her to the ground. Chris orbed out and reappeared next to him before orbing him away from Aisling as the two women started hand-to-hand combat. "You see, Bobby," Chris said dryly, "this is why you should never make a woman mad."

Letting out a harsh laugh, Bobby watched Susan, feeling strangely thankful that she was there. And he realised that he knew her from somewhere, from another time and place.

Memories slowly began to form in his mind and played like a movie in front of him. Recollections of his father's attempt of killing Susan and her friends because of some ancient prophecy. And every time, he had barely managed to prevent the untimely demise of his . . . of his sister. Bobby was pale as it all came flooding back, everything, and he realised just how important that Susan was to him. Just as Ryan was, if he had known him. It didn't matter; even if Bobby had never even known his brother, Ryan was still an important person in his life. And he cherished both of them, the way that he had never loved or even cared about his father.

"Susan!" he screamed over the noise. His sister raised her head and looked across the room, squarely at him. "I trust you!"

She grunted and gave Aisling a well-aimed kick, sending her flying across the room. "Good," she said lightly as she ran back over to the two guys standing there, staring incredulously at her. "Because I am kind of getting real tired of her, anyway."

Bobby and Chris shared a look and said simultaneously, "Women." She rolled her eyes as Chris pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket, which the vanquishing spell was written on.

"Okay, we're going to have to say this spell together, guys," Susan instructed, "because she is way too powerful for one witch, or even two, to vanquish alone."

"Let's do this," Bobby agreed as he stood between Susan and Chris, reading the spell with them, adding his own powers to the mix, to help stop the demon that would destroy everything, if his father got word from her of what he had done.

"_Demon of sleep, preys on dreams,_

_we banish you with words of these._

_Our powers combined to vanquish thee,_

_on the count of one, two three." _

Aisling screamed as fire engulfed her body and she writhed in agony as she exploded, her particles receding into nothingness. Bobby let out a sigh of relief, but it soon turned to horror as he looked around at their surroundings, wondering why her demise hadn't freed them from here.

"How come we didn't get out of here?" he asked her. "That doesn't mean we're going to be stuck in here forever, does it?" Panic rose in him as Susan and Chris exchanged a look.

"Well, maybe we haven't done everything that we're supposed to do yet," Chris said slowly. Susan had a secretive smile on her face as she steered Bobby towards the staircase. "Uh, Sue? Where are we going?"

"Just come on, you'll see," Susan said dryly as she pushed a bewildered Bobby up the stairs with Chris following them from behind. The trio climbed up the stairs and through the labyrinth of corridors until they reached the door that was Peter Connelly's office.

But to his surprise, the door sprung open the moment that they entered and Bobby's eyes widened at the surprise that stood there for him. "Mom," he said, running forward into his mother's arms. She hugged him tightly; this wasn't the Deidre Connelly that was his father's personal assassin or the mother that escaped his control from time to time. This was his real mother, free from the curse and able to love him freely.

Looking over his mother's shoulder as Susan and Chris, he mouthed, _"Thank you." _Susan smiled, tears running down her cheeks as she leaned against Chris, obviously remembering her own mother as white lights surrounded all three of them.

And then the scene around them vanished like a dream.


	6. Rescuing a Whitelighter

**Legacy: What Dreams May Come**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Six: Rescuing a Whitelighter

Chris groaned the moment that he woke, massaging his forehead as he felt Susan shift in his arms. Opening his eyes, he saw her waking up, her blue eyes fluttering open to look up at him. "Hi, there," she said dryly and he grinned. "Okay, this is odd. How'd we get into this position?" she wondered. "Didn't we cast the spell over there?" She pointed towards the loveseat.

"Yeah, I thought so, too," Chris mused as he shifted from his position on the bed. Susan pushed herself up and slowly looked around. Chris frowned, immediately noticing the absence of his cousin. "Hang on a second, where's Parker?" he asked.

Susan shrugged as she got to her feet, almost collapsing due to the fact of her feet being weak. Chris caught her before she fell and then she knocked them both over, leaving them to fall on top of each other onto the bed. "Oh, jeez," Susan groaned. "Sorry . . ."

"Let's not try that spell again anytime soon," Chris suggested just as he saw a flash from the corner of his eye. "What the—" Turning around, he could killed his cousin when he saw the camera that he was holding and the wicked grin that he was sprouting. "PARKER!"

"You should've seen the look on your face," Parker said, howling with laughter as he ran away. Chris would've ran after him, but his legs weren't any stronger than Susan's at the moment.

"Let's kill him later, shall we?" Susan asked as she finally managed to get to her feet and she held on to the bedpost for support. "Where's Bobby and Brandon at?" she wanted to know, looking around the room again, missing the younger witch and the Whitelighter.

"I'm right here, but I don't know about the Whitelighter," Bobby answered, appearing from around the corner, holding up two cups of something in his hands. "Here, drink this, it'll help. I promise, it's not poisoned," he added with a grin.

Chris accepted the cup and drank from the mug. Instantly, he made a face at the taste. "Oh, my—" he groaned, managing not to spit it out. "This is worse than Mom's brews."

"Helped, though, didn't it?" Bobby raised an eyebrow and Chris blinked, realising he was right. The mixture had definitely regained the strength in his body. "It's the least I can do, after what you guys did for me. I owe the both of you my life."

"Oh, come on," Susan said, waving aside his thanks as she drank the concoction. "Stop being so dramatic."

"No, I'm serious," Bobby said quietly. "If Aisling had managed to trap me there, then she would've told my dad about what I've done and then he would've had her kill me so he wouldn't have to do it himself. He couldn't care less about shedding his own blood."

"But—" Chris stared at the kid, shocked. "Your dad would _kill_ you? How—how could he kill his own son?"

Something flickered behind Bobby's eyes for a minute and he glanced sideways at Susan so quickly that Chris half-thought that he imagined it. "It would not be the first time," he said quietly. Both of the witchlighters stared at him in confusion. "It's a long story, one that I can't really tell you. I'm sorry, but it's better that you don't know the whole story." He wasn't looking at them as he said that, but stared determinedly at the ground.

"Better for whom?" Susan asked him as Parker came back into the room, still grinning like a madman. "What did you do with those pictures, Halliwell?"

"My last name's not Halliwell, it's Matthews-Mitchell," Parker informed her. She rolled her eyes. "And not much. Just uploaded them onto the Internet." He smirked at her horrified expression.

"I'll delete them later," Chris said hastily, glaring at his cousin. He would definitely tell his aunt about this one.

"You don't know my pass code," Parker protested, looking highly upset about this. Chris raised his eyes in a "wanna bet?" expression. "Do you?" he asked weakly.

"Where is Brandon at, anyway?" Susan asked as she looked around again. "He was only supposed to go up to the Elders when and if something happened that wasn't supposed to. So where is he?"

"Uh . . ." Parker shifted uncomfortably, looking around at the group at large before staring at the ground, pushing his toe into the ground. "Well, um, there's something I should probably tell you guys."

--

Bobby peered around the corner of the corridor to make sure that there wasn't anybody who was watching, but the house was empty. Thankfully, his dad was at work and his mother was on assignment. Barring demons that were here, there shouldn't be anyone there.

"Okay, I think it's clear," he whispered, motioning the other three to follow him. Susan looked worriedly around them as they walked through the mansion, keeping a careful watch around them to make sure no demons lurked up behind them. "Just keep a close watch out, all right? I don't think Dad's going to be home for awhile, but that doesn't mean anything."

"All right, so where would Brandon be at if they've captured him?" Chris asked him. Bobby shook his head as he climbed down the steps.

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "I just know that Dad's got some kind of interrogation room down here. He's never taken me down here, mostly because I think I'm supposed to prove myself worthy enough to be shown stuff down here and I've never done that."

"You really hate it here, don't you?" Susan asked him quietly, speaking for the first time since entering the mansion. Bobby looked at his sister quickly and saw the look on her face. It was torn between pity and understanding. He slowly nodded. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Bobby said gruffly. "This . . . none of this is your fault. It's o—my dad's." He silently cursed himself for his near-slip of the tongue. Thankfully, she didn't notice, though he could've sworn Parker caught something, though the witchlighter didn't say anything.

"Still," Susan replied softly, "nobody should have to grow up like this, Bobby. Why didn't your mother take you away from here when you were younger? Or was she always under that spell?"

"She's been under it for as long as I can remember," Bobby admitted. "I'll never understand why she never left when she was pregnant. Suppose she wanted me to have a mother and a father."

Susan, about to say something else, suddenly stopped short, a frown crossing her face and a faraway look appeared in her eyes. Bobby stopped too to look at her carefully. Chris glanced back at the two of them as Susan looked around at their surroundings.

"What's the matter, Sue?" he asked, making sure to keep his voice down. Bobby looked around them as Susan's vague expression suddenly turned to alarm as she looked around them again. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure," she whispered, her voice shaking slightly. "I could've sworn that I felt something."

"Felt what?"

Susan shook her head at Bobby. "I don't know," she confessed. "But it felt . . . familiar. A presence," she added carefully. "A presence that I haven't felt since . . ."

She stopped as she turned towards the wall opposite of them. Bobby looked towards it as she took a step forward, her gaze sharp as she stared at it. "Susan, come on, it's just a wall," he said, confused by her strange behaviour. "Let's go find Brandon."

"Hang on a second," she told him as she reached out and pressed her ear against the wall. Bobby exchanged a look with Parker and Chris. Parker twirled his finger around his ear while Chris watched Susan. She tapped her hand on the wall, listening carefully. "This wall leads to someplace. There's a room behind this one."

"No, there's not," Bobby told her. But he joined her and listened as she tapped it again, frowning. She was right, he realised. The sound was hollow as he listened.

"Why is there a room there that you don't know about?" Parker asked Bobby as Susan moved Bobby back. Chris walked over to Susan, listening to the sound too. "Do you know how crazy it is for people to be listening to a wall, guys? We seriously need to check your guys' san—"

"Shut up!" Bobby, Susan, and Chris yelled at him. Parker jumped back, startled, as Chris took Susan's place and slammed his hand hard against the wall. Almost instantly, the wall slid out of place, revealing a room behind it, a hidden chamber.

"Whoa," Bobby whispered as he followed the two witchlighters into the room. Parker trailed after him, looking around the room. "I think that we found Dad's interrogation room."

"Oh, my god!" Susan's shriek startled all of them. She hurried past the boys and hurried over to the lone figure that was lying limply in the chair, held in place only by the chains that bound him. "Brandon!"

"No more . . ." Brandon moaned, his head falling dead against her shoulder. Chris hurried over to him as Susan inspected the chains. "Oh, god, please no more . . ."

"Brandon!" Susan yelled at him, gently lifting his chin up so that his eyes could look at her. "It's okay, it's us, we're here to rescue you."

"Yeah, but I think that we'd better hurry," Bobby observed, glancing around him. He didn't want to take the chance that the demon who'd been interrogating might show up.

"Right," Chris agreed, looking over at his cousin. "Parker, you think you can crack these?" Parker hurried over to them, looking at the locks before pulling a hairpin out of his back pocket.

"Handcuffs?" he asked, grinning wickedly up at his cousin. "Piece of cake." He immediately began working the hairpin into the locks, wiggling it back and forth. Bobby couldn't help chuckling as the locks clicked open and Chris shook his head at his cousin.

"I never thought I'd be glad to see you picking locks," he told Parker, who grinned as he picked the other handcuff. Once he was finished, Brandon almost fell onto the ground if Susan and Chris hadn't caught him. "Whoa, easy there. We got you."

"Bobby, are you going to be okay?" Susan asked, looking at him with true concern in her eyes.

He nodded, hoping she didn't see the longing in his eyes. As desperately as he wanted to save his mother, his longing for his sister was something he wanted as well. But he knew that he couldn't have both. One day, he would have to choose.

"I'll be fine," he told her. "I promise, nothing bad is going to happen to me. I've survived for seventeen years here. Go help your Whitelighter, I'll be okay."

She sighed, unconvinced but knowing that Brandon needed her more than he did right now. "All right, but if you need _anything_, then—"

"I'll come over to you straightaway," he promised her. "Now go. Please, before someone comes down."

With one last look at him, Susan orbed out with Brandon and Chris. Parker glanced at him once. "You know, you're going to be in more trouble than you can handle, Connelly," he said. "You might want to think about accepting her help."

"I can take care of myself," Bobby said shortly. Parker shrugged before he orbed out. Bobby sighed. "I hope."


	7. Finding Safety in Each Other

**Legacy: What Dreams May Come**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Seven: Finding Safety in Each Other

"I cannot believe that you were so careless as to tell someone to go in after some lunatic that is after you cousin and his girlfriend! Not to mention, I specifically told you that you were not to be going after demons, young man!" Paige Matthews-Mitchell was yelling—no, screaming—at her son while Parker cowered. Susan could only watch this with interest while Chris sat with his hand in his head, looking vaguely bored.

"Don't tell me that you're used to this," Susan whispered to him while Paige continued to scream and yell at her son.

"No, I'm not," Chris whispered. "It's just that Mom's much worse when she really mad at us. Trust me, Parker and the twins got it easy. And Prue, Penny, and Mel had it _really_ easy." Susan smiled slightly as she glanced over at Brandon.

They had called Paige to heal him, mostly because they didn't want to interrupt Brooke and Wyatt's weekend getaway just so he could heal the Whitelighter. What they hadn't expected was that Parker hadn't called his mother like Chris had told him to, so he was in for an earful when she got finished healing Brandon. He was going to be unconscious for a few days, mostly because she had no idea what it was that had hurt him so badly. Whatever it was, it had done a great deal of damage to the Whitelighter, who were more or less immortal.

Once Paige had finished screaming at her son, she took a deep breath and turned to the two witchlighters who were sitting in the kitchen. "Okay, now you want to explain to me why exactly you got him involved in this?" she said through gritted teeth. "Chris, you knew perfectly well he was grounded."

"Yeah, which is why I told him to call you so that he wouldn't get into any trouble," Chris told his aunt calmly. "And I didn't have him do anything else before we went over to the Connellys' place besides watch over our bodies. On the bright side though, at least that demon's vanquished."

Susan smiled brightly. "Yeah, I called the hospital awhile ago and apparently Riley's awake," she told them.

"That's good," Chris said, grinning. "So, how long should Brandon be unconscious for?"

"At least three days," Paige sighed, giving up on yelling at them. "I'd advise against moving him, though, otherwise it could be more. Susan, um, do you have any idea what this Peter Connelly has against you or what he even did to Brandon? Did anybody see what was in the room that could've been used to torture him or anything?"

"Honestly, Paige, I kind of had my mind on other things at the moment," Susan told her.

"I didn't see anything either, Aunt Paige," Chris told her when she looked at him. Paige sighed, but nodded.

"All right, well, I'm going to go up to the Elders and see if they know anything," Paige told them. "And Susan, They're probably going to come here and visit you, to get a first-hand account of how you guys found you and about your demon friend."

"He's not a demon!" Susan half-snapped at her. Paige said nothing, simply looked at her. "And no. Absolutely not. No Elder is going to step foot into my apartment, barring a piano or an equally heavy object falling on my head." She folded her arms across her chest, glaring at Paige.

"He's half-Elder," Paige said with a grin, pointing towards Chris, who rolled his eyes. Susan sighed as she sat down, rubbing her forehead gently. "And what do you have against the Elders? What did they ever do to you?"

Susan froze, not wanting to go into _that_ story anytime soon. "It doesn't matter," she said, her voice like ice. "No Elder is going to set foot in here, am I understood?" She was actually shocked to hear her words. "I do not want Them in here and I won't have Them in here."

Before any of the three Halliwells could speak, the front door opened and Wyatt's voice called out, "Hey, we're back! Anybody here?"

"Kitchen!" Chris called, still looking towards Susan worriedly. Even Paige was looking concerned as Wyatt and Brooke came into the kitchen. "What are you two doing back so early?"

"Well, it turns out that demon activity continues to haunt us, even when we try to avoid it," Brooke said, rolling her eyes. "So we decided to just come home and be done with it. We did, however, manage to see that play that I wanted to see before the demons started following us like flies."

"Whoa," Wyatt said, spotting Brandon on the couch. "What's going on with him? And what are you guys doing over here?" he added, looking at Paige and Parker. "What's going on? What did we miss?"

Susan and Chris looked at each other. "You tell them," Susan said, sighing. "I'm going to go lie down. I've had enough excitement for one day."

She stood up, kissed Chris on the cheek before heading into her room, closing the door behind her, hearing Chris explain what had happened as she did so. Lying down on the bed, she suppressed a sigh as she stared up at the ceiling, wishing that she could really forget why she hated the Elders so much. But how could she possibly forget that?

Getting to her feet, Susan walked over to the window, opening it and feeling the cool breeze wash over her. For some reason, it made her feel better, at least until she heard Paige said the word "Elders" in the next room. Then it came back to her in a rush.

Swallowing a lump that had started to form in her throat, Susan pushed the tears that had started to form in her eyes as she slowly picked up the photo that she kept on her nightstand. Staring down at the image of her and Ryan sitting on the porch of their house, grinning at their mother, Susan let out a soft sob, lying down onto the bed as she cradled the photo.

"I miss you, Ryan," she whispered to her dead twin, "so much." Unbidden and unwilling, the tears began to slide down her cheeks and she buried her face into her pillow, sobs racking from her.

She was so wrapped up in her agony that she never heard the door open and close behind her. Not until she felt someone climb onto the bed next to her, wrapping his arms around her gently. Chris kissed her forehead, smoothing her hair away from her face.

Snuggling closer to him, Susan reached up and clung to him, allowing herself to be enveloped in his arms, seeking the comfort that she needed, from someone who truly cared about her. And for the first time since Ryan's death, Susan felt as though she was really safe.

Right there in Chris's arms, with him holding her so tightly, trying to protect her from the world and soothe her pain and agony, she felt more at peace than she had in the longest time. He understood her in a way that no one ever had, not even her brother. And that was a bond that she would never fully understand, but was grateful of it.

--

Chris stayed with Susan until she fell asleep, clinging to him like a child. He didn't say anything, had no words to comfort her with, but his mere presence seemed to be enough. Slowly, he unwrapped her from him, massaging her fingers so that she let go of him.

Standing up, Chris bent down and brushed a strand of her brown hair out of her face, picking up a picture frame that she had been clutching before he came in, staring down at the photo of Susan. She was standing outside of a house with a boy that he didn't recognise. They were both smiling and laughing at whoever was taking the photograph.

Feeling understanding and pain rush through him, Chris realised that this had to be Ryan. The Susan in the photo had been so happy, so carefree, so loving . . . would she ever be that way again? he wondered. She had said once that he had saved her, but now he wondered how he could possibly protect her from this.

_Just be there for her_, a voice whispered in his mind. _Just let her know that you'll always be there, no matter what. _

Chris sighed as he bent down, pulling blanket up over Susan and sat watching her for a second. She was so unlike any girl that he'd ever known, and was so caring, so kind.

And he had the feeling that it was no mere coincidence that she and Brooke came to San Francisco and then Peter Connelly suddenly became interested in tracking them down. What was it about Susan that made him so highly interested in killing her?

Almost the second that he thought that, he could've _sworn_ that he felt the presence of someone standing nearby. As he looked up, there was nowhere there, but there was a feeling of someone watching them and unseen power nearby. Standing up, he moved slightly in front of the unseen visitor, but no one appeared to attack them.

In fact, all that happened was the drawer on her dresser popped open and the mysterious visitor vanished, leaving Chris standing confused with the still sleeping Susan.

Hesitantly, he walked over to Susan's dresser and peered into it. Amongst the shirts of various colours, there was a small journal and a file lying in it, almost asking him to retrieve them.

Chris picked them up and slowly opened them, his heart beating fast as he stared down at its contents. "Brandon, what did you find over there?" he whispered as he realised how they came to be there.

--Fade to Black--

End Credits

Rider Strong as Parker Matthews-Mitchell

Rose McGowan as Paige Matthews-Mitchell

Jack Devonport as Peter Connelly

Drew Barrymore as Deidre Connelly

and Danneel Harris as Aisling


End file.
